


Creating Bonds

by Gaysuke_Takahashi, Kiyana



Series: Of Street Races and Spider Legs [16]
Category: Initial D
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22604581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaysuke_Takahashi/pseuds/Gaysuke_Takahashi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiyana/pseuds/Kiyana
Summary: The story behind our favorite familiars, and how they came to be with their masters.Set before OSRASL volume one and a little before and during the beginning of volume four.
Series: Of Street Races and Spider Legs [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1371529
Kudos: 7





	1. Takumi & Nejibana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One day, in the middle of spring, a clutch of spider eggs begins to hatch

Everybody was huddled around the small web in the corner of the living room, the sound of two spiders clicking excitedly filling the space. Tama, Takumi noted quietly, looked to be the most excited for the event to unfold, even more so than his mate, who was a calm but obviously eager presence beside him. Tama was fidgeting around the nest, moving side to side restlessly.

 _“Tama.”_ his mate chided quietly. _“You need to settle down, your anxious pacing might jostle the hatchlings.”_

 _“You know I can’t do that, Haru.”_ Tama responded, moving backwards from the center of the nest to continue pacing. _“What if something goes wrong?”_

 _“Nothing’s going to go wrong.”_ Bunta interjected, sounding vaguely amused.

 _“You don’t know that.”_ Tama responded, sounding indigent.

 _“Yes, he does, dearest.”_ Haru lightly plucked at the web. _“If something was going to go wrong, we’d know. There’d be an incredible racket coming from the eggs and you know it.”_

 _“But I can’t calm down no matter what I do!”_ Takumi found Tama’s pacing to be vaguely humorous, he’d never seen the usually calm and collected spider look so nervous before. The female orb weaver closed in on her mate, and the young Jorōgumo couldn’t help but be awed by how big she was compared to him. She was practically double his size. He hasn’t seen his own mother compared to his dad, or he doesn’t remember her, and he vaguely wondered if she was bigger than him too.

Some of the egg sacs began twitching ever so slightly, but just enough to make Tama fidget again.

 _“Oh, they’re starting to make their way out!”_ he chirped excitedly, ready to meet his hatchlings. Takumi watched closely as the sacs twitched again, and a small hole appeared on one, the quiet sound of dull clicks reaching his ears. Slowly, the hole grew bigger, and bigger, until finally, the first hatchling managed to climb their way out.

Outsiders, they were tiny. Hardly even half the size of one of his human form’s fingernails. They were a sort of whitish color, being newly hatched, and he heard Tama’s excited clicking increase in volume.

 _“I remember watching Tama and his siblings hatch when I was much younger than you.”_ Bunta commented to him quietly. _“I can hardly believe he was once just as small.”_ Takumi watched as the small hatchling made their way towards the two elder orb weavers, being absolutely dwarfed by them. Tama hunkered down to get a better look, his mate keeping upright to keep an eye on the rest of their hatchlings’ progress as he greeted them.

 _“Hey, Tama! Come look.”_ Haru called, causing him to look up and click excitedly. More babies were hatching. Takumi and Bunta both watched quietly as Tama and Haru began to fret over each of their hatchlings, the number of them rising slowly but surely.

 _“The most I’ve ever seen for mated familiars is around fifteen.”_ Bunta commented once more, watching Tama practically coo over his children. It was so odd, watching his familiar act like this. _“I don’t think this round will surpass that number. It might taper out around twelve or thirteen.”_

 _“And for normal spiders?”_ Bunta let out a quiet laugh at the question.

 _“Hundreds, kid. If not, thousands. Depends on the species.”_ Takumi’s eyes were a little wide at that, causing Bunta to snicker before they went back to watching. True to his father’s word, the number of hatchlings eventually tapered off at thirteen. Tama and Haru looked absolutely over the moon and proud as they excitedly chattered with their kids.

Takumi noted how one of them was trying to come closer to him, Bunta noticed them pretty quickly too.

 _“Oh?”_ he sounded a little curious as his gaze darted back and forth between the one approaching them, and the other hatchlings. _“Either this one is a little big for a male, or a bit of a runt.”_ he let out an amused huff. _“Still cute. Don’t ever tell anyone I said that.”_ Tama glowed at Bunta's enamourment, even as Takumi let out a small snicker before moving himself down lower to greet the hatchling headed his way by reaching out his limb.

 _“Hello.”_ he smiled, and the hatchling stopped in front of his limb, peering at it before touching it with one of their own.

 _“Hello.”_ they mimicked, their voice tiny, and quiet. Tama started jumping at his hatchling's first word, making sure to mind his other hatchlings even as Haru eyed him disapprovingly.

 _"Easy there, Tama."_ she said, but even she couldn't hide the excited clicks. Takumi paid them no mind, instead watching curiously as the little hatchling he’d interacted with began moving around his limb, making small little motions that he was starting to think were the beginnings of bobbing.

 _“You’re a curious little thing, aren’t you?”_ he said quietly, catching the hatchling’s attention once again. A small click rose from the tiny spiderling, and after a moment of hesitation, they began seeing if they could climb Takumi’s limb, much to his amusement and Tama's nervousness.

 _“Seems you have an adventurous one, Tama.”_ Bunta chuckled, keeping an eye on the situation as Takumi seemed too entranced in watching the hatchling go about it’s activity. _“It’s way too early for me to say, but I think my own hatchling has found his familiar.”_ recalling his own first encounter with Tama, it hadn’t been this soon after hatching, as Bunta had been a little too immature to be let near hatchlings. He may have been twelve, but he’d been a heathen at that age.

Tama moved closer to the two Jorōgumo and the hatchling as Haru stared at Bunta in surprise, the other hatchlings forgotten for but a moment. 

_“You’re certain?”_ she asked, quickly looking back down at her children and herding some away from the edge of the nest.

 _“It’s a little too soon to tell but… well, that hatchling did approach Takumi before either of you, unlike the rest of their siblings.”_ Takumi had since brought them up to his hands, watching as the tiny spider moved from finger to finger curiously, feeling the little taps of their limbs as they went along. Tama clicked anxiously, obviously not really keen on the idea of one of his hatchlings being removed from the nest.

Haru sensed what Tama felt. _"They all leave one day or another. You should be glad that they chose someone close to your Master."_ she hummed thoughtfully for a moment. _“And besides, they’ll have to be put back with us at some point today, they still have a lot of growing to do before they can truly leave.”_

Takumi heard her say that and reluctantly placed the hatchling on the web. Even the hatchling themself was a little sad. Bunta smiled and shook his head.

_“Not even ten minutes old and the little one already has the beginnings of a bond. I shouldn’t be surprised.”_

~0~

Takumi’s hatchling was, as it became evident around half a month later, a girl. She was small for a female orb weaver of her age, but what she lacked in size, she quickly made up for with a fierce personality. Her base color had darkened, slowly inching closer to an ashy black with every passing day, it would be a while still until her yellow coloration and patterning would come in, but with this slow change came quite the amount of sass towards her siblings.

Tama's limbs were always full with her shenanigans. She liked causing mischief, and her favorite activity was making her way out of the web while he was distracted to find Takumi, who she’d really taken a liking to. Haru found this particularly amusing, though Tama, not so much. Bunta would often times find her perched on Takumi’s abdomen, obviously enjoying what she’d loudly claimed to be her spot, while Takumi smiled at her and continued with whatever he was doing. She was by no means large enough to be easily spotted on him, still a couple months away from being a decent size for it, but for now she was bright enough to vaguely stand out against his dark coloration.

It was around the end of the first month when Haru announced that it was about time she started finding places for her and Tama’s hatchlings to go, much to the male orb weaver’s quite verbal dismay. For the short time he has been with them, he has gotten deeply attached to them.

 _“Dearest,”_ she had chided. _“They have to go. You know it’s time. At least one of our hatchlings will be staying around the nest. Be happy, Tama. We raised our first clutch, and I’d say we did an excellent job.”_ eventually, Tama came around to her way of thinking and agreed. It would be greedy of him to keep his children at the nest. So, with little fanfare and a heavy heart, Haru set out with the vast majority of their clutch.

 _“She’ll be back, Tama, you know that. Your own dam did the same thing with your siblings, I remember that quite clearly.”_ Bunta made an attempt to ease his familiar’s agitation, though Tama just sighed.

 _“I know that, but it’s the when that makes me anxious. It could take a couple years at most!”_ Bunta let out an amused huff.

 _“She’ll come back.”_ he repeated firmly. _“She’s a strong little spider, and she knows how to keep herself out of trouble. She’ll be fine. And besides,”_ Bunta glanced into the living room, catching sight of Takumi and his little almost-familiar having a conversation. _“You have a little girl to spoil still.”_

To which she replied. _"I am not spoiled!"_ causing Takumi to begin laughing, much to her agitation. _“Stop laughing at me! I’m serious!”_ her voice turned embarrassed as she clicked out a few sad clicks, which caused Tama to scurry towards her at light speed just so he could calm her down.

~0~

A month and a half in, the little spider decided it was time she picked a name, so they could finally create a contract. She and Takumi sat for a while, testing out various names they could think of and each one of them being rejected by her, citing that they just didn’t feel right. And finally, after three hours of brainstorming, she finally chose a name.

Nejibana.

 _“I like how it sounds.”_ she chirped happily. _“It has a nice ring, in my opinion.”_

 _“I think it’s perfect for you.”_ Takumi complimented agreeably, causing the little spider to puff up a little in pride.

_“Good! You should.”_

She had grown bigger since when her Dam left. And truthfully, she missed her a little. But Bunta was able to reassure her and calm her down with his soothing voice. She knew she’d be back eventually, there was no doubt about that. All she could do was wait until she did, and until then, she’d grow much, much bigger.

 _“Already so sure of yourself?”_ Takumi chuckled, raising a brow.

 _“Of course I am!”_ she exclaimed. _“I require nothing less than perfection!”_

 _“Oh?”_ Takumi grinned at her. _“I see, your highness.”_ he bowed at her dramatically, being obvious in his mocking.

 _“Alright, you two.”_ Bunta said as he entered the room, a small stool in his hands. _“That’s enough of that.”_ he sat it down in front of his son, who scooped up Nejibana and placed her atop it. _“We have a contract to set up.”_ settling down beside them, he gained their full attention. _“We’ll keep it simple, like my contract with Tama. No need for that overly through drivel. Understand?”_ at their nods, Tama descended from the ceiling.

 _“Alright, Nejibana, repeat after me.”_ the older spider made a sudden, unnerving sound in a language Takumi didn’t recognize, Nejibana doing her best to mimic it. It took her a few tries, but she eventually got it, quickly plunging them into what felt like ice cold water.

 _“Takumi.”_ Bunta’s gaze on him was harsh. _“Do you swear to provide shelter, food, warmth, and support to Nejibana, and to be there for her when she really needs it?”_

 _“I do.”_ the older Jorōgumo turned his gaze towards the little spider.

_“Nejibana. Do you swear to provide companionship and stability to Takumi, and to help him should you be able?”_

_“I do.”_ there was a sudden pop, almost like a balloon stabbed by a needle, and the icy sensation suddenly vanished as Bunta grinned.

 _“Then, your contract is now set. May the Outsiders see your bond and protect it.”_ Bunta let out a quiet breath, before reaching for his nearby pack of cigarettes. _“Now, with that out of the way, how about we go hunt as a family, eh? I heard there’s lots of deer around Akina this year, who knows, maybe we’ll have fun.”_

 _“Can we?!”_ Nejibana bobbed excitedly atop the stool, and Takumi smiled at her.

 _“Sure. It’ll be your first hunt, Bana.”_ there was a pause as Nejibana stared at him, before beginning to click wildly.

_“DON’T CALL ME BANA!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haru is the familiar of Takumi's mother. She's the most the nest has of her, and while it's a major plot hole with Jorōgumo lifespan, probably, if you want to think about it that way, I genuinely don't know where she is in OSRASL. (Kiyana)


	2. Gou & Tsuyoshi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a tiny bat is discovered in the middle of a cold spring night

Gou often found himself walking through this same forest time and time again. Ever since Rin had left, this forest was the only place that could calm his nerves. It had also been this very same forest where he had first met the Outsider whom he hangs out with. But today, he was here alone.

Ryousuke had recently started his expeditionary races, and he knew that he’d soon reach Kanagawa within the next few months.

_ 'Ryousuke.'  _ he thought mindlessly. It was the only thing on his mind. Ever since he found out that he was a creature, he couldn't stop thinking about him. It didn't help that he had gotten his mate mark when he taught him how to fly.

He stopped beside a tree, taking a moment to breath deeply before he leaned against it and slid down to the ground. The chill of the spring nights flowing through his body, just as cold as the spark that ran through him when he touched Ryousuke. And he sighed yet again, no matter what he tries, the same thoughts keep playing over and over again. It was a terrible thing, he felt pathetic about it all, since he's scared to tell Ryousuke the truth.

_ 'Does he know anything about mate marks?' _ he pondered, slumping down lower against the tree.  _ 'What do I do?' _

His ears picked up a quiet squeak, a small, almost imperceptible sound that made his eyes dart up. He started scanning around the area, taking in every detail of his surroundings in an attempt to find the source of the sound.

“... Hello?” he called out after a moment of hesitation. The sound had been so quiet that he wasn’t even sure he actually heard anything. Another squeak rang through the forest, this time a little louder, loud enough for him to hear it’s tone, and to make out that whoever is crying out is asking for help. The urgency of the sound made him quickly stand back up.

He most definitely _wasn't_ imagining it.

"Where are you?" Gou asked, hoping to find the creature as soon as possible. There was some rustling to his left and another little squeak, causing him to turn that way in time to see some of the underbrush that way shift. He was over there within a few easy strides, kneeling down to gently move the underbrush aside, though what he saw made him freeze.

Staring up at him, shaking in the cold, was the smallest baby bat he’d ever seen in his life. 

A fourth squeak from the tiny thing caused him to move once again as he slowly reached for the bat, gently scooping it up and firmly ignoring the fact that he could feel his wings shaking against his back.

"Outsiders…" he murmured, bringing the bat closer to him in order to warm them up. They look far too young to be left by themself during this time of the year. He could feel the pup shiver in his hands as numerous thoughts and questions began echoing in his head at once.

**“You look like you could use some help, Gou.”** the Outsider appeared near him. 

Gou wasn’t even phased at this point, too worried about the pup. “A little help would do. Could you try and find their parents?”

**“Sure.”** the Outsider shot Gou a knowing look. **“Don’t you feel like you’ve been in this place before? Like Deja Vu?”**

The vampire fell back into deep thought. “A little, yeah.” then something in him sparked. “Hey, wait a minute!” and the Outsider had left, leaving the slightly ticked off Gou and bat pup by themselves.  _ ‘Them and their shitty song jokes…’ _ he thought before getting back to the baby bat. They’ve been looking him in the eyes for the moment, clearly lost on what had just happened. “Don’t worry about them, they’re a friend and they’ll go look for your family. In the meantime, do you have a name?”

The bat squeaked quietly, they clearly hadn't fully learned their language yet, before giving him the smallest shake of the head. Obviously, they haven’t been given a name. Gou began walking towards his car as he remembered he could turn up the heat, the small creature in his hands could obviously use the warmth. Said bat was beginning to doze off from the slight warmth of his hands and the exhaustion, and as he got in his car, closed the door, started it up and turned on the heat, Gou began thinking about what the Outsider had referred to.

He himself was just a small kid when he was lost in a forest during a cold night. His eyes were red from fear and crying as he had leaned against a tree, the cold beginning to cut into him as he sat on the ground, seemingly ready to accept his fate. But then the very same Outsider had appeared before him, seemingly attracted by his cries. They seemed to go against what was generally told about Outsiders. They didn’t look like something unfathomable, but rather they looked like his kind. He was asked if he was lost and was offered help, and when he accepted, he was scooped up, just like he had picked up the pup, and carried to his family run hospital to receive a check up on hypothermia. Even when he was staying there, that Outsider never left his side. And even now, they were being a huge help.

Speaking of them, they had materialized on the passenger seat, speaking lowly.  **“Their family doesn’t want him. They said that he was a creature befriending freak.”** Some animals aren’t very happy when a familiar is born to their nest. It doesn’t depend on the species, but rather the specific animals themselves. By their tone, they obviously didn’t like what they’d learned.  **“He’s hardly even a few days old… well you can raise him yourself, if you’d wish, or I could take him to a nest where they are very friendly towards familiars. Take your time to come up with an answer and then tell me.”** The Outsider had left Gou and the pup by themselves now.

_ ‘He’s only a few days old and already left to fend for himself…’ _

~0~

The bat has already made himself comfortable in Gou’s room, crawling all over him and his furniture. He has even slowly begun learning his language. There was a few times where Gou had been muttering to himself as he worked out strategy and plans, and would catch the small creature watching him and quietly mimicking some of his words. If he was honest, it was ridiculously cute.

“Hey!” Gou caught his attention, prompting the little bat to peer at him from the makeshift nest on his desk. “Would you like a name?”

_ “Name?”  _ he echoed, tilting his head.

“Yeah, a name, I can’t call you a pup all the time.” Gou chuckled.

_ “What name?” _ he asked.

“Uhh, that’s a good question… hmm.”

**“Call him Tsuyoshi, like Kubo calls you.”** the Outsider added from the corner of the room.

“And how long have you been there?” 

**“No idea and anyway, I got places to be. Oh, and Project D won another race. See you later.”** and they were gone like that. Gou let out a small breath from his nose, from one topic to the next and gone, like always. He looked back at the little bat with a thoughtful expression on his face as he actually considered the proposition.

“... Tsuyoshi, huh?” the little bat once again tilted his head at Gou as he crossed the room. “How do you feel about that? Does Tsuyoshi sound like a good name to you?” the little bat seemed to ponder that.

_ “Tsuyoshi…” _ he mimicked, before letting out a delighted squeak and nodding.

“Well, Tsuyoshi it is.”

~0~

_ “I want to learn to fly!” _ Tsuyoshi exclaimed a few days later, causing Gou to raise a brow. He may not completely understand how contracts work, but he knows that his new familiar was still too small to be learning to fly, even if his vernacular suddenly skyrocketed.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “You’re still a little too small for such things.”

_ “Of course I’m sure!” _ the little bat huffed.  _ “You said that you’re gonna go visit your sphinx in two days! I wanna be able to fly at least a little by then!” _ Gou chuckled.

“My sphinx, huh? What, do you want to impress him?” at Tsuyoshi’s nod, the vampire actually began laughing.

_ “Hey! That’s not funny!” _

“I’m sorry, Tsuyoshi, it’s just, Ryousuke won’t really care. He doesn’t know you yet.” Tsuyoshi visibly pouted.

_ “Yeah,  _ **_yet_ ** _!” _ he puffed up pridefully.  _ “And when he does, I want him to see how impressive I am!” _

“You’re far too cute to be impressive.” Gou retorted, causing the little bat to squeak in offence.

_ “I am not cute!” _ he exclaimed.  _ “I am the night! I am darkness incarnate!” _

“Oh?” Gou smiled at his familiar. “I’m sorry for the mistake, oh lord of the dark. How will I ever make up for my error?”

_ “Pick me up and scratch my head!” _ the little bat demanded imperiously.  _ “Then take me flying!” _ Gou laughed once again as he scooped up his little familiar and began scratching him as he demanded, prompting Tsuyoshi to let out a particularly pleased squeak.

“Alright.” he said. “I’ll take you flying.”

Teaching Tsuyoshi was surprisingly easy. After a few attempts on the first day, the little bat managed to take off from the ground and fly up a few inches before growing tired. The pride radiating off of the little creature every time he stayed in the air longer than before was enough to keep Gou from stopping him, and by the time the day he planned to visit Ryousuke came, he could fly for a few minutes at the time, though his landing was incredibly chaotic.

Landing on Ryousuke’s balcony, he could hear the rhythmic tapping of fingers against a keyboard and the sound of quick wing beats growing closer, prompting him to knock on the balcony door. After a moment of silence, the door opened and Ryousuke invited him in. Gou hardly took even two steps past the threshold when Tsuyoshi flew in and nearly crash landed atop the sphinx’s computer, settling spread eagle and unharmed.

“That was your most graceful landing yet, Tsuyoshi.” he complimented.

_ “Thank you! I’m getting better!”  _ Tsuyoshi replied happily.

**“The bat’s new.”** Ryousuke commented from beside him, looking at his familiar curiously.

“Of course, he’s just a baby after all, not even a month old yet. I just got him last week…” Gou sniffed the air a little. “Why do I smell bird?” he noticed Tsuyoshi perk a little from the corner of his eye.

**“Fumihiro was here to talk about the Project D site. Said that it seemed a little too confrontational to him.”**

~0~

They were leaving Ryousuke’s place as Gou asked. “Why did you perk up when I mentioned bird?”

_ “Bird is my natural prey, so I was very interested!” _ Tsuyoshi exclaimed, causing Gou to raise an eyebrow.  _ “But when I realized you two weren’t talking about normal birds it got boring again.” _

“And just how do you know birds are your natural prey?” Gou was genuinely curious.

_ “I don’t know!” _ the little bat squeaked happily.  _ “Something just tells me that, and I believe it well enough.” _

Gou smiled as he opened the car door. “If you say so.”

_ “Hey! Do you think your sphinx likes me?” _

“I believe so, yes.” as Tsuyoshi began to babble on excitedly about that, Gou couldn’t help but think about how his familiar kept referring to Ryousuke as his sphinx, like he’s his mate. His hand drifted back on his chest where the mate mark lies. His sphinx... 

_ ‘Someday, maybe. I can only hope.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tsuyoshi is a literal baby and I adore him ;; (Kiyana)


End file.
